Vi tæller til tusind.

In Danish, verbs do not change according to the subject the way they do in English.

So:

• jeg tæller = I count
• du tæller = you count
• vi tæller = we count
• de tæller = they count

The verb stays tæller for all these subjects in the present tense. That is one of the nice simplifications in Danish grammar.

Yes, vi is the normal Danish word for we.

Examples:

• Vi kommer snart. = We are coming soon.
• Vi bor i København. = We live in Copenhagen.

It is the standard subject pronoun for we.

Tæller is the present tense form of the verb at tælle.

So:

• at tælle = to count
• tæller = count / am counting / are counting / is counting, depending on context

Danish present tense often corresponds to both the English simple present and present continuous:

• Vi tæller can mean we count or we are counting, depending on the situation.

The word til is used because Danish normally says count to a number, just like English.

So:

• tælle til ti = count to ten
• tælle til hundrede = count to a hundred
• tælle til tusind = count to a thousand

If you said vi tæller tusind, that would sound more like we are counting a thousand (things), not we are counting up to one thousand.

So til is important here.

Here til means to in the sense of reaching a number in a sequence.

It is not showing physical direction here. It marks the endpoint of the counting.

Compare:

• Vi tæller til ti. = We count to ten.
• Han går til skolen. = He walks toward the school.
  (This is a different use of til.)

So in your sentence, til means up to the number.

After til in this kind of expression, Danish usually uses just the number itself:

• til ti
• til hundrede
• til tusind

You generally do not need et here.

Et tusind can exist in other contexts, especially when talking about a thousand as a quantity:

• Jeg har et tusind kroner. = I have a thousand kroner.

But in counting expressions, plain tusind is the natural form:

• Vi tæller til tusind.

A rough guide is something like TEL-er, but the Danish sounds are not exactly like English.

A few points:

• æ is a front vowel, somewhat like the vowel in English bed, but not identical.
• ll in Danish can sound softer than an English l sequence.
• The ending -er is usually a light, unstressed ending.

So tæller is approximately:

• TEL-uh or TEL-er as a rough English-friendly guide

If you are learning pronunciation, the most important thing is to notice the æ sound and the unstressed ending.

A rough pronunciation guide is TOO-sin or TOO-sen, depending on speaker and accent.

A few things to notice:

• The u is not exactly like English oo, but that is a helpful approximation.
• The final d in Danish is often much softer than an English d, and may barely sound like a full d.
• The second syllable is usually weaker.

So tusind will often sound less sharply pronounced than an English learner might expect.

This is the normal basic Danish word order for a main clause:

subject + verb + other elements

So:

• Vi = subject
• tæller = verb
• til tusind = prepositional phrase

This is the same basic pattern as English:

• We count to a thousand.

Danish often follows verb-second word order, but in a simple main clause where the subject comes first, that gives you:

• Vi tæller til tusind.

Yes. Danish present tense often covers both:

• We count to a thousand
• We are counting to a thousand

The exact meaning depends on context.

For example:

• As a general activity: Vi tæller til tusind hver dag. = We count to a thousand every day.
• Right now: Vent lidt, vi tæller til tusind. = Wait a moment, we are counting to a thousand.

Danish does not usually need a special continuous form like English are counting.

Yes. At tælle is used for both ideas.

Examples:

• Jeg tæller til ti. = I count to ten.
• Jeg tæller pengene. = I am counting the money.
• Hun tæller børnene. = She is counting the children.

So the context tells you whether someone is counting up to a number or counting things.

Yes. Æ is a separate letter in Danish, not just a variation of a.

It comes near the end of the alphabet:

• ... x, y, z, æ, ø, å

In tæller, it represents a vowel sound that English does not match perfectly. For many learners, a good first approximation is the vowel in bed or cat, depending on accent, but it is best to listen carefully to native pronunciation.

So when reading tæller, do not treat æ like ordinary a.

Usually, til is the normal and simplest choice:

• Vi tæller til tusind.

Op til can sometimes appear in other contexts, especially when emphasizing up to as a limit, but for ordinary counting practice, til is the standard form.

So a learner should normally say:

• Jeg kan tælle til hundrede.
• Barnet tæller til ti.
• Vi tæller til tusind.